Research assessments and REF

Almost 60% of DMU’s research activities were judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent

Cinema and television history

Ranked first in the UK for percentage of world-leading (4*) outputs

DMU moving forward in research excellence

De Montfort University (DMU) looks forward to building on its success in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the UK-wide initiative to assess the quality of research in UK universities.In the 2014 REF:

Almost 60% of DMU’s research activities were judged to be world-leading or internationally excellent

The University saw an overall rise in research quality of 15% compared to the previous exercise

The majority of case studies demonstrating the impact which our academics’ work has on real-life issues were rated either outstanding (4*) or very considerable (3*).

Looking ahead?

The government recently commissioned a review of the REF, the results of which have recently been published.

It is expected that the next REF will take place in 2020, though the exact dates are yet to be confirmed.

DMU is investing in its research staff and infrastructure, and aims to build on its success in REF 2014, to perform even better in the next REF.

DMU and REF 2014 performance

DMU successfully submitted to 12 'Units of Assessments' (UOAs) in November 2013:

Highlights

The overall quality of our research (as quantified by Grade Point Average), increased by 15% compared to RAE 2008, with each of our UoAs assessed as having elements of world leading (4*) research

Our research power (a measure of volume and quality) increased by 14% compared to RAE 2008, and we are in the top half of all universities in the UK

The percentage of our research graded as world leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) increased to 58% (compared to 42% in RAE 2008)

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management was ranked first in the UK for percentage of world-leading (4*) outputs

74% of the impact of our research was assessed as outstanding (4*) or very considerable (3*), and we were ranked joint first for impact in the UK in four UoAs for the proportion of impact judged to be 4* or 3*:

More information about the impact of our research on real life issues can be found here.

Research Excellence Framework (REF)

The results of the REF are used to allocate block-grant research funding to universities. The REF also provides accountability for public investment in research, demonstrates its benefits, and provides important reputational yardsticks and benchmarking information about the research performance of UK universities.

For REF each submission was assessed by an expert panel and awarded an overall quality profile:

4* - World-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour3* - Internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour2* - Recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour1* - Recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour.